Love Can Be Found Even When Facing Death
by mjay.rumbelle.3
Summary: Takes place during Catching Fire, the first night Peeta and Katniss are in the Capitol for the Quell. It's at night when Katniss can't sleep and goes back down to Peeta who's reviewing his notes and the tapes of former games. Only this time, the attendant doesn't interrupt with the milk. Rated M for content.


Love Can Be Found Even When Facing Death

**All direct quotes are taken from "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins.**

"**Hearing voices from the television room, I go in and find Peeta. Beside him on the couch is the box Effie sent of tapes of the old Hunger Games. I recognize the episode in which Brutus became victor.**

**Peeta rises and flips off the tape when he sees me. 'Couldn't sleep?'**

'**Not for long,' I say. I pull the robe more securely around me as I remember the old woman transforming into the rodent.**

'**Want to talk about it?' he asks. Sometimes that can help, but I just shake my head, feeling weak that people I haven't even fought yet already haunt me.**

**When Peeta holds out his arms, I walk straight into them. It's the first time since they announced the Quarter Quell that he's offered me any sort of affection. He's been more like a very demanding trainer, always pushing, always insisting Haymitch and I run faster, eat more, know our enemy better. Lover? Forget about that. He abandoned any pretense of even being my friend. I wrap my arms tightly around his neck before he can order me to do push-ups or something. Instead he pulls me in close and buries his face in my hair. Warmth radiates from the spot where his lips just touch my neck, slowly spreading through the rest of me. It feels so good, so impossibly good, that I know I will not be the first to let go."**

It was obvious that Peeta was feeling exactly the same way that I was. He moaned gently against my throat, placing another light kiss in the spot beneath his lips. I leaned my head slightly to the side to allow him better access to my throat and collarbone. Right now, in this moment, nothing else mattered; Peeta and I had been through enough pain, enough heartache, it was finally time for us to share just a little moment of happiness. I turned in his arms to place a strong kiss against his lips; everything about this was perfect.

I knew exactly what I was feeling right now, "I love you Peeta."

"Katniss, you don't have to pretend for me. There are no cameras here, no one's watching."

"I'm not pretending," I pulled away from the shallow of his throat so that I could look into those perfect blue pools. "I can't pretend anymore. You are so important to me; I only wish that I had figured it out sooner."

His eyes held the saddest look that I had ever seen in them, "Me too."

Everything around us disappeared; if at that moment the Games had been called off, I'm sure neither of us would have noticed. His hands made their way slowly to my hips as I brought his face back to mine. I could have stayed in that moment forever, but I didn't have the chance. I felt Peeta's tongue gently graze my lower lip and I pulled back a little.

"Katniss, I'm so sorry; I just got a little carried away. If you want to stop, I completely understand."

Why had I been so stupid? I knew I wanted Peeta, and he obviously wanted me, judging by what I could feel against my leg. "Don't apologize, I just wasn't expecting it that's all." His eyes were still on the floor, refusing to look up at me. I placed my hand under his chin and forced his eyes to meet mine, "I want this Peeta, I do, and I'm sorry for reacting like that, it's just, I'm not used to feeling things like what I'm feeling now, for you."

He looked shocked, but happy; I had a feeling that maybe there was still some doubt in his mind that I really meant what I was saying, so I repeated the hardest, yet somehow easiest, sentence I'd ever uttered, "I love you Peeta."

His gaze softened slightly and he placed his strong arms around my waist again, "I love you too Katniss, I always have. You've always been the one for me." He crashed his lips hard against mine restarting the fire that had simmered down before. When his tongue touched my lip again, I accepted it, opening my mouth in response.

I barely noticed when we lowered ourselves down onto the huge couch. My arms wrapped themselves around his neck as I ran my fingers through his hair. His eyes fluttered gently causing his eyelashes to tickle my cheek, bringing around a soft giggle from my lips. It must have amused him because I felt a smile spread across his lips.

His hands found the hem of my shirt and began to pull it up, "Not here," I breathed. That brought an entirely new set of problems. He sat up quickly and dropped his head into his hands. I could see he had misunderstood me; I had to solve this. I got up slowly and ran my hands down his chest.

"Katniss, you're sending me completely mixed signals. One minute you're all for it, and the next you're pulling away."

I tried to use a seductive voice, "I didn't mean 'not here' as in the Capitol; I meant 'not here' as in, not in this room, somewhere more private."

He turned to face me and I tried to look sexy by biting my lip. This made him laugh a little, "Katniss, sweetheart, you don't have to try and look sexy for me," he leaned in closer, just mere centimeters from my lips, "you are sexy."

I couldn't help but smile as his cool breath hit my skin; it was like he was trying to put out the fire beneath my skin, but instead was only coaxing it to burn hotter. We stayed like that, forehead to forehead for a while, until he spoke again, "Your room or mine?"

"It doesn't matter, just get me there quickly." He smiled brightly and took me up into his strong arms. I brought his lips back to mine before he could move. He set out then to someone's room, I didn't really care one way or another whose, the point was, I was about to be his, forever.

I noticed quickly once we were inside that he had chosen my room, oh Peeta, My Peeta, always wanting me to be happy. He pressed me firmly against the wall and stood back for a moment, "Did I hurt you? I shoved you a little."

I answered him by crashing my lips back into his. His hands found the hem of my shirt again like before; only this time I didn't stop him as he pushed it up and over my head. His lips didn't return to mine, but instead found my pulse point. A small moan escaped my lips as Peeta's tongue touched my neck gently. We kicked off our shoes in unison as my hands found the hem of his shirt. He moved back long enough for me to pull it off, and then went straight back.

"Bed, please," I breathed. I wanted this, now more than ever. He picked me up and gently laid me back on the bed; as his hands brushed my bare ribcage, I truly became the girl on fire. Peeta fidgeted momentarily with the tie on my pats before pulling them off and throwing them to the floor. His lips left gentle kisses over my legs. My hands quickly found his lips and brought them back up to mine.

Once we were reconnected in a passionate kiss, my hands fumbled for his button on his pants but were just a little too low and found the bulge in his pants instead. Peeta growled into my ear at my touch and it gave pride to be having such an effect on him. I moved my hand up to his button and removed his pants, throwing them to the floor beside my own. It was obvious that losing his pants gave Peeta some relief; even now his boxers were tight against him. I could just imagine his size; this scared me a little, if he was as large as he seemed how would he fit inside me? I pushed the thought out of my head; tonight wasn't going to be about fear, we'd suffered through enough of that. Tonight was about our love and nothing else.

All that separated us now was our underwear; Peeta quickly removed my bra which got that much out of the way. Now, it was my turn; I slipped my fingers just inside the waistband of his boxers and pulled them off. Now, it was only my underwear blocking him from me and I needed them out of the way quickly. Peeta laced his fingers around the waist band, but didn't make a move to take them off.

"Peeta, take them off, please." I moaned. Catching the desperation in my voice, Peeta kissed my lips gently and pulled them over my legs. We were completely bare now, neither of us hiding anything. Peeta pulled back to take in my full form. His eyes were dark with lust and desire; blue flames licked around his dilated pupils just enough to reflect his love for me. He started to press himself against me but I pressed my hand to his hard chest.

"Oh no, it's my turn to drink in the view," I replied with a smile. I pushed him back so that I could see his entire body and, honestly, quite enjoyed what I saw. I knew Peeta had muscles, we had trained together before the Reaping, most of that time he'd spent shirtless; but I hadn't ever noticed that they looked this good before. Every muscle rippled as he held up his weight, my eyes followed them down his body to his center. Just as I had expected, he was very large. I didn't understand why girls back in our district had made such comments about that part of a man. As I looked at Peeta's, it appeared beautiful to me. Maybe they just weren't as lucky as I was; they hadn't found that one person that they couldn't live without. If they had, they would have felt just like me. My eyes found Peeta's again and saw a look of longing that I couldn't deny any longer. I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him down to me; he let out a sigh as he just barely grazed my center with his head.

I couldn't deny him this any longer, I pressed him further down, giving him the hint that I was ready, but he didn't move. I looked up at his face; he was staring back at me, fear in his eyes. "Peeta, what's wrong?" I reached up to stroke his face and he leaned his cheek into my hand.

"I don't know what to do," he said shyly. "I've never done this before."

"Neither have I," I replied.

"But, I thought, you and Gale,"

"Nope, you're my first." I blushed; I had never told anyone that before. I knew that people in District 12 had always suspected that Gale and I had done other things besides hunt while we were in the woods, but I had never corrected them. This seemed to make him happy, but then his smile faded. "What is it?"

"If you've never been with anyone else, then this is really going to hurt you."

"Only for a little while, I'll be fine." His smile returned and he looked at me for permission.

"Please Peeta," I felt him enter a few centimeters inside me and instantly felt myself burning as I stretched to accept him.

I must have made some sort of sound because Peeta was at my ear with an apology. "It's okay, just, please, go slowly."

"Of course."

He went slowly, adding a little of himself at a time. Eventually, he found my barrier and we both froze; we knew that this was not going to be gentle; he would have to be rough for just a split second.

"Katniss," Peeta didn't want to hurt me.

"It's okay, just do it." I replied.

Always wanting me to be happy, he did as I asked. I let out a loud cry as he penetrated the thin barrier. I expected him to leave me, but instead he laid completely still, waiting for my pain to subside. It was painful, but I'd felt worse, once it became weaker, I moved my hips against him just to make sure. When the pain was minimal, I nodded to Peeta that it was okay to move.

He quickly found his rhythm and began to make me moan beneath him. Once I was sure the pain was gone, I began to move my hips against him, our breaths mingling and our rhythms harmonizing.

"I'm not going to last much longer." He said between breaths.

"Me either." I replied.

It wasn't long before I was chanting his name, my pleasure swelling inside me. He thrust into me a couple more times before I tipped over the edge, screaming him name and feeling my walls tighten around him. Less than a minute later, Peeta met his peak and released inside me before collapsing on the bed beside me.

I turned into his arms and placed a gentle kiss on his lips before we both fell asleep.


End file.
